Water boosted shotshell



Jan. 27, 1970 v, L.. KNIGHT WATER. B'oosTED sHoTsHELL Filed Jan. l0, 1968 V. Lone Knighf,

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent O 3,491,690 WATER BOOSTED SHOTSHELL Verran Lane Knight, 1733 Mermaid Drive, San Pedro, Calif. 90731 Filed Jan. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 696,810 Int. Cl. F42b 7/04 U.S. Cl. 102-42 1 Claim ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A waterproof container filled with a liquid is disposed in a position within the shotshell where at least a portion of the container is exposed to the heat generated by the ignition of the propellant so that at least a portion of the container so exposed will disintegrate to liberate the liquid which will then be substantially vaporized by the heat generated.

It has long been the byword of the ammunition and arms art that it is imperative to keep the powder dry. This tradition has remained in full force and effect from the days of the muzzle loading arms to the present time. Much literature and quite a number of patents that have issued have dealt with the solution to the problem of keeping water and moisture out of ammunition, especially shotshells which do not have a completely enclosed metal housing. To this end, the development of the shotshell case made of molded plastic has been hailed by shooters everywhere.

The reason for this extreme caution is obvious. It has always been the thought that even a small amount of moisture would adversely affect the performance of the charge or powder in the bullet or shell. This contention is correct in its general sense, but not in all circumstances. It has been found that moisture even though present in the area of the powder will not adversely affect the burning and gas generation of the powder if the moisture has not the time to wet the powder. It has further been found that water in the vicinity of the powder charge has some very substantial advantages such as providing extra thrust, cooling the barrel of the gun in which this ammunition is used and a further advantage of helping to keep the inside of the barrel clean by removing residue.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved type of ammunition that overcomes a heretofore extreme prejudice in the art by using water in the vicinity of the powder charge.

It is another object of this invention to provide a type of ammunition that provides a boost in thrust while helping to keep the barrel of the gun utilizing such ammunition cool even under rapid re conditions.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a new type of ammunition that helps to maintain the barrel of a gun clean from harmful foreign substances such as residue.

These and other objects of the invention are provided according to one embodiment of the invention comprising a tubular body casing having a closed head end and an open mouth end. A propellant such as gun powder and a projectile such as a bullet or shot is conventionally disposed in the casing which also includes a conventional primer to ignite the propellant. The invention also includes a liquid-filled waterproof container disposed in the casing, at least a portion of which is exposed to the heat generated by the ignition of the propellant. At least a portion of the container so exposed is fabricated from a material having a low flash point so as to liberate the liquid which will substantially be vaporized by the heat.

The invention and specic embodiments thereof will be described hereinafter by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements or parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the invention in the form of a shotshell;

FIG. 2 illustrates the head portion of a shotshell in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the lower portion of a shotshell in accordance with still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is still a further embodiment of the invention in the form of a shotshell;

FIG. 5 illustrates a variation of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates another variation of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the invention in the form of a rifle, hand gun, or machine gun cartridge; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a projectile portion of a cartridge or an artillery round in accordance with the invention.

With reference to the drawings and particularly FIG. l, there is shown an elongated tubular shotshell body or casing 11 of plastic, paper, metal or other suitable material. The casing 11 includes a head portion 13 of metal attached to the lower end of the tubular casing 11 by conventional means. The head portion 13 has a closed end 15 in which is centrally disposed a conventional primer means 17. Within the casing 11 is a conventional base wad 19 placed in the head portion 13 and separating the closed end 15 from a quantity of conventional propellant powder 21.

Separating the propellant powder 21 from a shot charge 23 is a central disk-like wad 25. The central wad 25, as in the case of the base wad 19, may be fabricated from plastic or paper. The central wad 25 may also take on other shapes and sizes to perform certain additional functions such as preventing the shot from contacting the barrel of the gun and thus provide better shot patterns.

At the end 27 of the tubular casing 11 opposite the closed end 15 a plastic, paper or cardboard disk 29 is conventionally retained to confine the shot charge 23 in the casing 11.

Disposed within the propellant powder 21 is a container 31, here shown in the shape of a typical medicine dispensing capsule. The shape of the container 31 is not critical but it must be disposed in a position to be exposed to the heat generated by the ignition of the propellant powder 21 when the primer rmeans 17 is detonated. Further, at least a portion of ythe container must be fabricated or constructed of a material such as a plastic that will in some manner disintegrate or otherwise liberate the contents of the container when the heat generated by the ignited propellant powder reaches it. The container 31 contains a liquid 33 such as water, for example, that upon being subjected to the aforementioned heat will substantially vaporize.

Another form in which the liquid 33 may be carried within a cartridge or shell is shown in FIG. 2. Here, the liquid 33 is contained in a plurality of small ball-like plastic spheres S1 more or less uniformly distributed throughout the propellant powder 21. This configuration Provides a very smooth and uniform vapor/ization of the liquid 33.

The liquid container may also take the shape of and replace at least a portion of the base wad. Such a scheme is illustrated in FIG. 3 where container 461 is in the form of straight sided doughnut lying on an annular wad 63 to allow the primer 17 to ignite the propellant powder 21 through the container 61. The container 61 thus acts as a cushions. to relieve some of the shock when the powder 21 is ignited.

FIG. 4 illustrates still another embodiment of the invention incorporated in a shotshell. Here, the liquid 33 is confined in a liquid retaining enclosure 71 having a high Hash top 73 and a low Hash bottom 75. The top 73 and bottom 75 are held in place by a side member 77 of high Hash material. The difference between the low Hash and high Hash material may only be the thickness of eachthe higher Hash portions -being thicker. The side member 77 also may include an upper portion 79 holding a relatively heavy wad-type disk 81 to thus create an air gap 83 between the disk 81 and the top 73 as can be seen in more detail in FIGl 5. The air gap 83 aids in providing a compressible cushion to dampen internal vi-. lence within the shell. The air gap 83 as drawn is not to scale but only represented for the purpose of identification. The side member 77 may also include a lower skirt portion 85 to help prevent the escape of gases along the side of the enclosure 71.

A variation of the enclosure 71 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed in FIG. 6 where the side member 77 includes an extended upper portion 91 to act as a cup to hold the shot charge 23 in a shot group for better shot dispersion control.

It should be clear that the invention is not limited to shotshells but can be incorporated in any ammunition wherein an internal propellant charge is ignited to propel a projectile charge. This category includes rifles, hand guns and artillery and mortar rounds, for example. A riHe -cartridge incorporating the invention is shown in FIG. 7. This ligure shows a conventional rifle cartridge metal case 101 holding at its open end 103 a bullet 105 and a primer 107 at its closed end 109. Within the case 101 is found a cylindrical liquid container 111 disposed symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the case 101 and filled with the liquid 33. A conventional propellant charge 113 is disposed both within and without the container 111. When the primer 107 is detonated, the charge 113 is ignited first within the container 111. The explosion of this portion of the charge 113 disintegrates the container 111 and disperses the liquid 33 throughout the remaining propellant but, before the liq` uid 33 has time to wet the remaining propellant, it also is ignited in the presence of the liquid. The liquid in this situation is in a position to absorb more heat which causes liquid 33 to evaporate and cause a smooth but large build-up of gas pressure to give greater thrust characteristics. Although a center fire cartridge is shown in the drawing, it should be understood that rimre or any other type detonation `means such as electrical means may be utilized within the scope of the invention.

The liquid container need not always take the form of a capsule but may be incorporated in the bullet or projectile of various types of ammunition, for example. FIG. 8 illustrates such a scheme. This figure shows a bullet 4 151 of lead, for example, having a longitudinal opening 153 in the bottom end 155 thereof to thus create a container 157. The opening 153 is closed by a low Hash material membrane 159 that prevents the escape of the liquid 33 contained in the container 157. However, the escape of the liquid and subsequent vaporization thereof will be affected when heated by the ignition of a propellant charge (not shown) adjacent to the' membrane 159. The weight of the bullet 151 may be kept the same as before the boring of the container 157 by extending the lower portion thereof. The operation of this embodiment is basically similar to the other embodiments described.

In all embodiments of the invention, the liquid 33 may be a liquid such as water or may be a liquid having similar heat absorbing and gas creation characteristics, Further, the liquid may be a combination of different materials such as, but not limited to, water and a water soluble lubricant.

From the foregoing, it should be clear that a very useful and advantageous ammunition is provided that aids in the cooling, cleaning and lubrication of the instrument discharging such ammunition and also provides smooth and significant boost to the projectile propelling gases produced by the ignition of the propellant charge.

What is claimed is:

1. A shotshell, comprising:

a tubular body casing having a closed head end and an open mouth end;

shot projectiles disposed in said casing adjacent said mouth end;

propellant means disposed in said casing between said shot projectiles and said head end for propelling said shot projectiles outward of said mouth end when said propellant means is ignited;

a primer means disposed in said head end for igniting said propellant means; and

a plurality of small ball-like plastic spheres distributed uniformly throughout said propellant means, said spheres containing water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12,942 5/1855 Brown 102-38 653,208 7/1900 Brown 102-38 671,708 4/1901 Noble 102-38 802,301 10/1905 Michele 102-38 2,072,671 A 3/1937 Foulke 102-101 3,392,669 7/1968 Picard 102-101 X BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner STEPHEN C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 102-101 

